There has been a good discussion about the use of commas. Do many of you use semi-colons. I don't. I rarely see semi-colons in the contemporary novels that I read. I keep my sentences as short as possible. I find that short sentences add to the pace of dramatic situations. Besides, I try not to force my sentences to do to much.
One thought one sentence - Bertrand Russell
Some of my sentences are overlong. When I read them back they seem ridiculous. Should I have used a full stop just then or a semi-colon? I have no idea. And does it really matter?
Christopher ...
Yay, for Hemmingway and many other past and very talented writers. My sentences (in my books) are long and sometimes have more than one semi-colon in them. I remember reading Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe at uni and being horrified by the length of his sentences and semi-colon use; I love it now.
Short sentences have their place; but it's exhausting reading an entire piece written in them. I use semi-colons, but rarely colons as they have a specific function. I've blogged about this too! See 'A comma is not Enough' at https://wordsunderoneroof.wordpress.com/ which explains things, I hope.
The kind of writing that I do demands longer sentences. I write as I think, which is more flowing than staccato.